Conventionally, in a magnetic recording/reproduction apparatus of this type particularly for a compact electronic camera, recording and reproduction decks are separately provided. However, in such an apparatus, reproduction and re-recording cannot be performed immediately after a recording operation. Therefore, the conventional apparatus cannot satisfy the demand of a user for immediately reproducing a recorded image, and if a failure is found, immediately starting re-recording. Digital data recording has the same problem as described above. A magnetic recording/reproduction apparatus which employs an integrated read/write head combining recording and reproduction heads (to be referred to as a read/write head hereinafter) and incorporates a recording/reproduction circuit is proposed as an apparatus which is free from the above problem to a certain extent. With this magnetic recording/reproduction apparatus, reproduction and re-recording immediately after recording are enabled. Although image data can be reproduced and re-recorded immediately after recording, since no erase head is incorporated, previously recorded data cannot be erased, that is, immediate re-recording cannot be performed. The major reason why such an apparatus does not incorporate an erase head is as follows. First, in the case of digital recording, since so-called overwriting is enabled, no erase head is needed. Second, in a compact electronic camera, all the parts must be rendered compact and part installation space of the apparatus is considerably limited. Therefore, it is difficult to allocate space for installing an erase head requiring a relatively large installation space.
Even if there were no problem in space and an erase head could be installed together with the read/write head, the following problems still remain unsolved. When both the heads are incorporated in the apparatus using a compact magnetic disk as a recording medium having a diameter of, e.g., 2 inches, it is very difficult to set the heads at head positions which can realize optimum head touch states, that is, positions at which the heads contact the surface of the disk recording medium in proper alignment with its circular recording tracks. As a result, so-called spacing loss is increased. When high-density recording with a wavelength on the order of 0.5 .mu.m or less is performed, spacing loss due to head touch states of the heads must be reduced to a mininum. However, as described above, since optimum head touch states cannot be realized, spacing loss is increased, and as a result, high-density recording cannot be performed.
Furthermore, in an image recording method, a frame recording method using 2 tracks is proposed. In a compact magnetic disk apparatus which performs recording in the frame recording mode, two erase heads are required in addition to two read/write heads. In this case, four heads must be installed in the limited space of a deck. Therefore, difficulties associated with head installation space and in optimum head touch are exacerbated. In this manner, since various difficulties are presented in incorporating the erase head in the apparatus, image data erasure is carried out by a separate erase apparatus in practice. The above-mentioned demand of a user for immediately reproducing a recorded image and for re-recording it if a failure is found has not yet been satisfied.
A gap width and a track width of an erase head must be set to be wider than those of a read/write head, and when the erase head is close to the read/write head, crosstalk may increase. Therefore, it is conventionally considered that the erase and read/write heads cannot be integrated in view of recording/reproduction performance.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a magnetic recording/reproduction apparatus suitable for a compact electronic camera which can satisfactorily reproduce various data such as image data without increasing crosstalk and spacing loss, and which comprises a composite magnetic head which can perform the re-recording operation immediately after the recording operation, and a control means for a selective recording means corresponding to types of recording data, a successive recording means on a single track and a double recording means and the like.